MR STEVENS V KIDS!!!

 I decided to pick on the little kids!

…not such a good idea!

 I definitely came off second best!

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Well, the games must go on! A little snow never hurt anybody! (Ha. I don’t think I would’ve said that at the beginning of the year!) 

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During my last few days at Ardvreck, it snowed!

When the all-weather is completely covered in ice, the kids go skidding! They get down low, and get their friends (or gappy) to pull them along the ice as fast as they can..

 Aim… FIRE!
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Not long now!

I’ve been skiing in the Austrian Alps, drunk Guiness in Dublin, climbed the Eiffel Tower, cruised the Greek islands, had beer at Oktoberfest and ran with the bulls. I’ve thrown tomatos in spain, pushed over the ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa’, taken a gondola ride in Venice, climbed the ‘Berlin Wall’, fought in the Colloseum, been canyon jumping in Austria and built a snowman in Switzerland!

I’ve built ‘dens and dams’, coached rugby, cricket and hockey, been ‘Captain Clean’ and also a ‘Mummy’. I’ve been Scottish Country Dancing, eaten haggis and worn a kilt. I’ve played ‘Indian Longball’, ‘Hares and Hounds’ and touch rugby. I’ve pulled boys out of bed in the morning and then put them to bed that night again.

 But best of all, I’ve been an older brother and friend to a hundred miniature people.

A huge thank you to everyone that’s followed me along journey this year! It’s been great to have your support and always a highlight of my day to hear from you.

I’m back in Aus on Saturday, but watch this space for my last few posts!

Mitch.

A while back now, I saw the Socceroos take on South Africa in London.

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While we were skiing in Austrai, Sean Kelsi and I went to the ‘Apres Ski Party’ (after ski party). It was awesome! It started off with the austrian MC (they speak german over there) singing some german song. We don’t speak German. Slight problem there.

[Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-ObEdpRd8Q]

It was really funny. Sean, Kelsi and I sang a million songs with the help of our ‘adopted’ Australian friend from London, Joe. We got really into it. Every time we sang a song, we chose the upbeat party songs and got everyone up doing actions and dancing on tables and benches.
Our playlist included: Pretty fly (for a white guy), Sweet Home Alabama, Keep on moving, Wonderwall, We will rock you, … among others. We had the best time ever. We got to know the Austrian MC, Toni, really well. We talked to him all night (in between yelling out songs and dancing). Turns out he was a ‘carny’ (from the ‘carny folk’ lot) in Australia for a couple of years, before becoming a ski instructor in Austria. We met up with him on one of the bars on the ski slopes the next day and had a beer. What a legend!

To read more about my time skiing in Austria, Click Here.

Halloween is great night for the kids at Ardvreck! Everyone dresses up in their scariest and funniest costumes and play silly games and eat tonnes of lollies and chocolate… so it was a great night for me as well!

Have a look at what happens when you throw lollies at kids:

[Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfAqqxjSeGQ&feature=channel]

Having red hair makes me look Scottish. I walk into a pub: “he’s a local lad,” they’re thinking.
I walk into a pub wearing my Scottish rugby guernsey: “Aye, he’s definitely a local lad.”

And then I open my mouth and I’m definitely an Aussie.

But if I go the the Rugby to watch Scotland take on South Africa, and I’ve got red hair, and I’m wearing my Scottish rugby guernsy, and wearing a Scottish kilt AND chanting and screaming out Scottish chants and singing Scottish songs, they’re thinking “Aye lad, you’re DEFNITELY SCOTTISH!”

Our whole school went to Murrayfield (a mammoth task) to cheer on the Scottish underdogs against the world champions, South Africa. Dressed up in my Scottish attire, I took it upon myself to lead the songs, the chants and the Mexican wave.

With an army of enthusiastic school children at my disposal, it wasn’t long before I had nearly the whole section following my lead in “O Flower of Scotland”, “The Bonnie, Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond”, “SCOTLAND!” and of course, the Mexican Wave.
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I’ve collated some of the videos I’ve taken this year and posted them on the “Videos” page. Click on the yellow tab above to see them, or Click Here.

Enjoy!

We stopped off at Loch Ness to try and see if we could find the Loch Ness Monster! Originally a sceptic of the whole idea, after hearing all the stories, I think Nessie might just be hiding away in there somewhere!

So, in a desperate attempt to find Nessie, I decided to go for a swim in Loch Ness! Ah, also, the loch (scottish lake) is pretty damn cold. About 3 degrees celcius! So I stripped down, and jumped in!

It was the coldest I’ve ever been in my life! The water was icy cold, and it felt as if there were thousands of tiny needles poking me in the chest! I didn’t care if I saw Nessie or not – I was getting out!

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